Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a nacelle, a tower mounted atop the nacelle, a generator, a gearbox, and a rotor assembly having one or more rotor blades. More specifically, for many wind turbines, the rotor assembly is coupled to the generator through the gearbox. Further, the rotor assembly and the gearbox are typically mounted on a bedplate support frame located within the nacelle. For example, in many wind turbines, the gearbox is mounted to the bedplate via one or more torque supports or arms. The one or more rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
The majority of commercially available wind turbines utilize multi-stage geared drivetrains to connect the turbine blades to electrical generators. The wind turns the turbine blades, which spin a low speed shaft. The low speed shaft is coupled to an input shaft of a gearbox, which has a higher speed output shaft connected to a generator. More specifically, the gearbox contains a housing that uses gears and/or gear trains to provide speed and torque conversions from the low speed shaft to the high speed shaft of the generator. Thus, the geared drivetrain aims to increase the velocity of the mechanical motion. For example, in some wind turbines, the gearbox increases the rotational speeds from less than about 20 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1,000-1,800 rpm, which is the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity.
Typical wind turbine gearbox structures are compact and the available distance between gearbox components is very limited. Due to the strict constraints of the gearbox components, it is difficult to remove and/or replace various gearbox components while retaining the gearbox in its uptower location in the nacelle.
Thus, a gearbox assembly that addresses the aforementioned issues would be advantageous. More specifically, a gearbox assembly that allowed for easier uptower repair and/or replacement of its various components would be welcomed in the technology.